Conditioning plant for molding sand



May 15, 1951 J. BOUCHER commromzus PLANT FOR MOLDING smn Filed July 2; 1948 I //vv[/v 70 (flew/[s 5006/7172 5/ W a 4 A Patented May 15, 1951 CONDITIONING PLANT FOR MOLDING SAND Jacques Boucher, Paris, France, assignor to Pompes Noel, Liverdun, France, a French com- Application July 2, 1948, Serial No. 36,789 In France August 1, 1946 4 Claims.

The invention relates to a plant for condition-.- ing moulding sand.

It is well known that moulding sand can be used over several times provided that, after each time it is used, it undergoes the following operations: crushing, breaking up, cooling, dampening and, if necessary, enriching with a binder.

Up to now this treatment has always required a rather long time, especially for the cooling and moistening to penetrate to the core of the sand. For this reason, all large sand processing works must have a large reserve of sand. This has many drawbacks, mainl the following:

The necessity to prepare a large quantity of sand, and difliculty in rectifying the composition thereof according to manufacturing needs;

The necessity for large sized bins, therefore of bulky dimensions;

The need for raising the sand to the top of the bins with the help of special elevators entailing a huge consumption of power.

The present invention has for its object to provide an improved conditioning plant for moulding sand and similar materials, in order to avoid said drawbacks.

The invention has more especially for its object to provide a plant wherein the sand or other material at the beginning of the conditioning thereof is brought down to a sufficiently low temperature, and to a sufficiently consistent degree of dampness so as to be immediately reused, without necessarily remaining in a cooling and stabilizing bin. The quantity of sand necessary may therefore be very greatly reduced.

Said plant comprises means allowing the sand, or other material, to undergo several continuous and simultaneous operations of breaking up, mixing and cooling between the reception station for used material and the utilization station of the regenerated material.

Other features and advantages will be evident from the following description.

On the accompanying drawing, given merely by way of example:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic elevational view of a plant according to the invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section along line 22 of Fig. 3, of another embodiment;

Fig. 3 is a corresponding front view;

Fig. 4 is an elevational view of another embodiment.

According to the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, the used sand of a reception station is brought by a spiral conveyor I moving according to arrow I up to the base of a bucket elevator 2 which hoists it up and empties it in a small chute-3. The sand then falls in 4 on a conveyor belt winding around a magnetic drum 5. The metallic particles are retained by said drum 6 and fall in 1 into a chute 8 which discharges them in truck 9.

The sand, cleared of its metallic particles, flows according to arrow i into a hopper I0 and falls into II in the centre of a round table I2, rotated with a uniform speed around its axis XX. Two crushing rollers i3, movable around a horizontal stationary axis YY, are rotated by the circular motion of table I2. A pipe I4, provided with a cock I i and opening above the spiral conveyor I enables one to add the water necessary for remoistening the sand. Furthermore, fresh sand and binder are poured on the table I2 of the crushing device I3.

A regulating feeding scraper I5, placed obliquely at a point of the periphery of the table I2, causes the crushed sand to slide gradually onto a chute I6, whence it falls on a first belt conveyor H, which is, for instance, made of rubber, and is actuated at a high speed. The surface of said conveyor is furnished with thin projecting plates 13 which drive the sand and throw it forward, in a very finely divided state, into a first chute I9 provided with a hood 20 intended to avoid losses of sand. During this sand throwing and owing to its very finely divided state and high speed, the sand undergoes a first and intensive cooling, a well as a, marked breaking up.

This operation is repeated several times.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, on coming out of chute I9, the sand immediately falls on a second conveyor belt 2|, similar to belt II, which throws it into a second chute 22, similar to chute I9 and likewise provided with a hood 23. The sand thus undergoes a second intensive cooling and a second breaking up. On coming out of said chute 22, the sand falls on a third conveyor belt 24 which may be actuated at a higher speed than belts I! and 2| and/or be more steeply sloped so as to throw the sand, which has undergone a third intensive cooling and breaking up, into a bin 25 provided with a hood 25 where it is collected in 25. The bin 25 bears at its base a trap-door 2'! whence the sand flows towards the utilization station.

By passing over several successive conveyor belts with plates, said sand becomes completely divided and mixed, thus allowing the added water to filter through the grains and ensuring a rapid remoistening, uniform and thorough.

Furthermore, by repeated coolings which it undergoes while passing at'high speed through The embodiment shown in Figs. 2 and 3 does not difier from the preceding one, except that the sand, instead of passing on several successive conveyor belts, passes several times on the'same conveyor belt, while operating in closed circuit. On coming out of chute 16, the sand falls on belt 28-similar to the conveyor belt of the example of Fig; 1 but actuated at a high speed and inclined at agreater angle.

The sand is thrown forward-at 29,- according 'to'arrow f in a finely separated state and scat- .tered in the form of a jet 3D." The top part0? .said-jet enters at 3| into a'bin- 32 provided at its basewith a trap-door 33, whilst the bottom part of -saidjet does not reach the entrance of the lbin;'it isstoppedby the wall of said bin and again-falls at 34 into a rearwardly sloped chute.-

.Saidchute is divided into two branches 3%? and 3'! (Fig.3) which'passon each side of the belt conveyor 28,;3116, converge at their bottom outlet, at 38;-- above the base-of'said belt 28.- The "sand 35 which has not entered the bin 3|,-again falls at 38 through said chute 35 on belt 28 according to arrows f and f whence it is again sprayed in jets as'described above. On the contrary, the-top portionof the sand jet having entered at St into 40 the bin 32 accumulates at -39 and may be used again?" The sand throwing distance of belt 23 is regulatedby varying its speed and/or its slope, so that only a-third of the sand, for instance, enters thebin 32, the excess sand againfalls-on bel-t'28, therate of which is multiplied by three with respect to the utilization rate due-to the successive fallsr- Therefore; the sand accomplishes anaverage oftwo closed circuits in addition-to its 59 direct itinerary,-thus undergoing a breaking up which ensures the desired dampening andcool- Owing to this arrangement, the sand conditioning-plant is greatly simplified and its dimen-- sions are particularly reduced, thus leadingtovery important savings concerning space taken up as well as manufacturing costs. The maintenance and power costs concerning only a very reduced number of very simple apparatus ensure so very economical working of the plant. Furthermore, the use of labour is reduced to the supervision and maintenance of the appliance de- 7 scribed.

According to the example shown in Fig. 4 the -6 spraying apparatus'is composed of a first belt with plates 45], of slow speedand little slope, which throws the sand on a second belt GI more sloped than belt 36 and actuated at a higher speed.- Said belt 4| throws the sand towardsbin I 32in .which it partly enters ashereinbefore: described, the remainingsand falling again through the chute*35,' similar to chutes 30 of Figsx2 and 3, onthefirst belt dfiithus being replaced in a closed:

circuit.

This embodiment has the same advantages as those of the apparatus of Figs. 2 and 3. Furthermore, the shock caused by the first jet with the plates of the second belt enables a more nearly perfect breaking up, and the high speed reached by the sand after its journey on two consecutive belts; ensures :to; said sand a'jet, of a greater height, thus enabling, in the case of big volumes of istorage, the doing away with any other elevational means.

Theinventiouis, of course, not limited to the above. described embodiments which have merely beengiven by way of examples. Thus in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, the means'enabling the splitting up of thejet intotwoparts whereby one returns rearwardly, may naturally be embodied in any other manner. The number of circuits may embody any suitable number of closed cyclic paths.

Having now described my invention what I claim -as---new and desire-' to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In" a--p1ant for conditioning moulding sand,

the-combination -of-- a sloped conveyor device adapted-to throw from itsupperenda divergent aerial jet ofsand; astoragebin located a rela? tively short-distance from-said upper end of said convey-or devicebutspaced therefrom, said'storage bin having a Y front-wall provided "with? qanaperture therein and a rear wa'll-and'hood;ga nd-a sloped chute-fittedto-saidfront Wall and'opening at its lower end; above the lower part of said" conveyor device;

2. ,In "a plantv for conditioning moulding sand,

the combination .of a sloped conveyor adapted to throw fromitsuppenenda divergent aerialjetof sand, a storage bin locatedav relativelyshort distance from said upper end .01" saidconveyor" but: spaced therefrom; said storage bin *havinga. front'wall provided with" an aperturetherein and a rear wall and hood andga sloped chute'fltted" to said, front wall; said .chutebeing formed of two ran h s; w i h sk rt s id 'c nveyor,. he; lower 1 edge of "each of said branches opening above the,"

lower part of saidconveyor' device;

. 3..In .a plant. iorconditioning ouldin sand,

thzcombiriation of a sloped endlesslconveyor chutefitted to said front wall, said chute being ormedjof two b anches which" skirt said on-v yqr e1t;t e low r edge of e h f said ranch s openingiabove the'lower part of th'eupper face of 4; In a plant for conditioning moulding sand,

the combination of two sloped endless conveyor beltsin series, the'second of said .belts'being, adapted to throw from its upper end a diver gent aerial jet 'of sand, a ,storagebin located a. relatively short distance fromsaid upper' end .of'

said second belt but spaced. therefrom, said storage .bin having a front wall provided withian' aperture therein andarear wall and hood, and. a sloped chute fitted' 'tofisaid"front wall, said" chute being f ormed' of two branches which skirt s'aid'secondbelt; the loweredge'of each of said branches opening above the lower part'g'of theupper face of the first-of said belts;

J AGQUES "BOUGHER,

(References on following page) 5 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 780,349 Johnson Jan. 17, 1905 1,559,916 Royer Nov. 3, 1925 1,912,837 Goldberg June 6, 1937 Number Number Name Date Rafetto Aug. 30, 1938 Christensen Dec. 21, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain May 4, 1933 Germany Oct. 25, 1928 

